For most of recorded history, household scent came from whatever was being burned for light or heat: tallow, beeswax, oil lamps, incense. The industrial refining of paraffin in the 1850s separated candle wax from its smell entirely, creating a neutral base that could carry any added fragrance.
The scented candle became a mainstream lifestyle product in the late twentieth century, and wickless melts followed in the 2000s as warmers became common. The 2010s added a new chapter: social media let individual makers sell hand-poured, custom-scented melts directly to buyers, turning a niche craft into a recognizable small-business category.